Recognising the Importance of Employee Mental Health

Employee mental health is a significant business concern. The scale of the issue is huge:

• Black Dog Institute estimates that three million Australians are living with an anxiety disorder or depression and that, on any given day, one in every six Australian workers is experiencing a mental health concern.
• Stress, depression, burnout and other mental health problems have a negative effect on employee productivity. They are associated with higher rates of absenteeism, turnover and reduced levels of employee engagement.
• Safe Work Australia reports that mental health conditions account for 9 per cent of all serious workers’ compensation, with absences due to these conditions resulting in over four times more lost time compared to physical injuries and illnesses.
• Beyond the productivity concerns, Work Health and Safety (WHS) laws require employers to provide a mentally healthy workplace by managing the risk of psychosocial hazards.

The Critical Role of Managers

Managers and front-line supervisors have a critical role to play in building and maintaining a psychologically-safe workplace.

• Managers establish the day-to-day work culture experienced by employees.
• They translate the organisation’s priorities into individual work assignments and performance metrics, either contributing to or relieving feelings of overload and burnout.
• By their behaviour and what they reward and discourage, they can foster collaborative teamwork and a sense of belonging for all employees – or allow rudeness, incivility and bullying to take hold.
• By their actions, they can model healthy wellbeing and work-life balance – or give the impression that work takes priority over personal and family needs.
• Perhaps most importantly, they are in a unique position to notice when individual employees are showing signs of stress and other mental health problems and to take appropriate steps to help.

Organisational policies related to psychological safety and psychosocial health are important (and are required under WHS laws), but their execution can fall short if managers and front-line supervisors do not support the efforts through their day-to-day communications and behavior.

How Training Managers Can Help

Many of the behaviors expected of managers do not come naturally; they require training and experience to master. Effective performance management, for example, involves direct and honest conversations that new managers often shy away from, as well as tact in encouraging improvement without hurting motivation. Managers must learn these skills.

In the same way, managers need to learn the skills required to foster psychological safety and reduce psychosocial risk at work. Training can help managers and front-line supervisors

• Understand what psychosocial hazards are, how to mitigate them and when to bring observed risks to the attention of human resources (HR) or senior leadership
• Recognise the signs of stress and other mental health problems in employees
• Learn how to listen and ask appropriate questions to encourage healthy conversation about stress and mental health
• Master the skills of leading through change, effective delegation and motivating for high performance
• Learn ways to build civil and collaborative working relationships on their teams and how to intervene to stop rudeness or bullying
• Understand when greater flexibility or other accommodations might be offered to help an employee get through a difficult period
• Learn how to refer an employee to helpful support, such as the employee wellbeing program or employee assistance program (EAP)
• Recognise the importance of modelling healthy behavior and attending to the manager’s own wellbeing

Workplace Options

Workplace Options offers an array of services and supports to help organisations build psychological safety and reduce psychosocial hazards. These services include training for managers, Manager Assist (a dedicated manager support line), organisational consulting and employee support services. Contact us to learn more.